The acclaimed Iranian director Mohammad Rasolouf
has been denied exit from Iran and will not be able to attend the Stockholm
International Film Festival to present his latest film A Man With
Integrity.

Earlier this year, director Mohammad
Rasoulof returned to Iran after completing his latest movie A Man
with Integrity .

The director was invited to attend
the Stockholm Film Festival along with his film, however on the
16th of September his passport was confiscated at Teheran’s airport and he has
since been interrogated by the Iranian government several times.

This is not the first time Rasoulof
is subject to this treatment. In November 2013 the festival invited Rasoulof
along with his film Manuscripts Don’t
Burn, but was denied leaving Iran since his passport was
confiscated under similar circumstances. Stockholm Film Festival's visiting
international and Swedish directors then chose to gather for a manifestation
outside the Iranian Embassy to support Rasoulof’s
cause. This and several other actions led to Rasoulof
being released from Iran.

When Rasoulof now again is exposed to the same
violations of his human rights as in 2013, the Stockholm Film Festival wishes to
draw attention to, and support a petition launched by the French producer
Michèle Halberstadt with the purpose of releasing Mohammad
Rasoulof.

- We are grateful that Stockholm's International
Film Festival can be used as a platform to support artists and
their freedom of expression, no matter where in the world they are, says
Git Scheynius, Festival Director.

If you want to support the cause for free art and help get Mohammad
Rasoulof released, you can sign the petition here.

The Stockholm International Film Festival started in 1990 and is today one of
the leading competitive film festivals in Europe. The festival takes place every
year in November with more than 200 films from 70 countries.